A tense buildup with a suitably happy ending.
YA veteran Garcia (The Lovely Reckless, 2016, etc.) gets hearts racing with a well-paced novel of romance and the sweet science.
Peyton is a biracial (Cuban-American and white) high school senior in Washington, D.C., who was just offered a spot to play soccer for her top-choice university program when an injury turns all her plans on their heads. This was no accident on the pitch, though: Peyton was pushed down a flight of stairs by her abusive mixed martial arts–fighting ex, landing on her knee. In the aftermath, in which her ex denies any wrongdoing and she receives anonymous threats, Peyton escapes by moving in with a beloved uncle and his twin sons in rural Tennessee. Though her hope is to focus on school and healing, fate has other plans as another up-and-coming kickboxing and MMA fighter, Owen, becomes an inescapable presence in her life. Peyton is wary of fighters and even more dubious about her own instincts, struggling with anxiety and post-traumatic stress related to her father’s death and her own assault. Though some readers may find the frequent alpha-male posturing thrilling and romantic, it becomes tedious after the third testosterone-fueled fight takes place only halfway through the book. If the reader can stick out the brooding and violence, the conclusion is satisfying. Owen is white and there is diversity among the secondary characters.
A tense buildup with a suitably happy ending. (Sports romance. 15-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-07920-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2018
Melodramatic, without redeeming character development.
Following the events of the series opener, 18-year-old Kamila Hamilton continues to try to reconcile her relationships with two brothers.
Kami’s family is struggling financially and her parents have decided to divorce. Kami blames her mother for the split, adding to the strain between them. Making matters worse, Kami is blamed for acts of vandalism and hateful Instagram comments directed against her classmates, isolating her from friends. She finds comfort in her romantic relationship with Taylor Di Bianco and friendship with Julian, a gay boy who continues to stick by her. But Kami still can’t shake her attraction to Taylor’s older brother, Thiago, who broke things off with her. He’s now working as a PE teacher at the nearby elementary school. Struggling to navigate their history and proximity, Kami and Thiago attempt to project an appearance of just being friends for Taylor’s sake while still secretly feeling anguish and lusting after each other. After the trio agrees to unearth a time capsule they buried eight years ago, the letters from their past selves trigger events that change everything. Continuing in the same vein as the earlier entry, this uncredited translation of a work by Argentinian author Ron, which was originally self-published in 2020, centers on explorations of indecision and guilt. The mystery surrounding who’s framing Kami brings some depth to the story, but the pedestrian writing and shallowly drawn characters undermine engagement. The central characters read white.
Melodramatic, without redeeming character development. (content warning) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464234309
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues...
He’s in remission from the osteosarcoma that took one of his legs. She’s fighting the brown fluid in her lungs caused by tumors. Both know that their time is limited.
Sparks fly when Hazel Grace Lancaster spies Augustus “Gus” Waters checking her out across the room in a group-therapy session for teens living with cancer. He’s a gorgeous, confident, intelligent amputee who always loses video games because he tries to save everyone. She’s smart, snarky and 16; she goes to community college and jokingly calls Peter Van Houten, the author of her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, her only friend besides her parents. He asks her over, and they swap novels. He agrees to read the Van Houten and she agrees to read his—based on his favorite bloodbath-filled video game. The two become connected at the hip, and what follows is a smartly crafted intellectual explosion of a romance. From their trip to Amsterdam to meet the reclusive Van Houten to their hilariously flirty repartee, readers will swoon on nearly every page. Green’s signature style shines: His carefully structured dialogue and razor-sharp characters brim with genuine intellect, humor and desire. He takes on Big Questions that might feel heavy-handed in the words of any other author: What do oblivion and living mean? Then he deftly parries them with humor: “My nostalgia is so extreme that I am capable of missing a swing my butt never actually touched.” Dog-earing of pages will no doubt ensue.
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus’ poignant journey. (Fiction. 15 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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